Magnetic resonance imaging mapping of brain functions based on brain surface normalization analysis using functional information

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We developed the method by which different individual brain can be normalized into a standard template brain and better sensitivity to brain activation can be achieved. The method is based on two-dimensional cortical surface map and functional information obtained by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We first explored, using fMRI, how the cerebral cortex, particularly the prefrontal cortex, is functionally organized. Three threads of results were revealed, each along one of the three axes in a stereotaxic atlas. The first concerns the left-right hemispheric axis, and it was found that the brain mechanism in the inferior frontal gyrus that supports inhibitory control is distributed in a traditional manner, such that the left hemisphere implements verbal functions and the right hemisphere implements nonverbal functions (Morimoto, et al., 2008). The second concerns the superior-inferior axis, and it was found that inhibitory control in naive subjects was supported by dorsal prefrontal mechanism whereas inhibitory control in naive subjects was supported by ventral prefrontal mechanism (Konishi, et al., 2008). The third one concerns the anterior-posterior axis, and it was found that the inhibitory control is implemented in the posterior part of the inferior frontal gyrus (pIFG) whereas processing of infrequent stimuli is implemented in the inferior frontal junction, located approximately 2 cm posterior to the pIFG (Chikazoe, et al., 2008). The information regarding functional organization of cerebral cortical functions obtained in these results provide the important fundamental principle necessary for precise mapping of the human brain functions.